More Knowledge, Less Honesty
by Unknown-Sociopath
Summary: Harriett Lily Potter was protected for her entire life by her families house-elves, goblins, the Flamels', and the Grangers. To the rest of the wizarding world, the entire Potter family died that night with Voldemort. Now, it's time for Harriett James Granger, twin to Hermione, to go to Hogwarts. First in the More or Less series.
1. More Family

_**I've been addicted to Slytherin!Harry fics for years. So I've decided to write one. I'm lacking a beta, but I've never used one anyways. So any mistakes are mine! Feel free to point them out to me. This should be updated every Friday. If I miss a Friday, then it'll be up that Sunday.**_

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**More Knowledge, Less Honesty**

_A green light bolts towards the infant, who is barely three months old. She screams as it hits her, before part of it was absorbed into a new scar created on her forehead and the rest rebounded towards the original caster. A few seconds later, the man had become nothing more than a scorch mark on the floor, a set of robes, and a well-used wand. _

_Two house-elves pop onto the scene, crying at the loss of their Master. The smaller of the two moves to the crib, holding the infant. Shaking, the elf picks the child up and pops them to the child's family home. _

"_You is safe now, Mistress Harriett."_

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"Minny, what time's the train?" A young girl questions, running down the stairs in her Hogwarts robes. A blue snake, barely three inches long, is wrapped around her wrist. The girls green eyes widen as she misses the last step and she stumbles forward, falling into small, pale hands.

Minny sets her upright and smiles. "You be careful, Harry. Every since you could walk you missed that step." The house-elf apparates them both into the eating room and releases her, smoothing out her own dress. "The train leaves at eleven. Everybody else is already eaten. We will leave after you finish."

"'Mione!" Harry yells, bolting away from the elf. Hermione smiles at her, putting her hand over her mouth while she chews. Harry throws her arms around her friends neck and laughs. "Today is the day."

Hermione bounces in her seat and wraps her arms as far around Harry as she can while staying seated and squeaks. "We get to go to Hogwarts! After five years of reading and hearing about it about it I can actually go!"

Harry sits down between Hermione and their little brother, who smiles at Harry before turning to their mother. "I get to go to Hogwarts too, right?"

His mother, Mary, looks at her husband, John, and laughs lightly before looking at her son again. "Yes, Micah. In two years, you will join your sisters at Hogwarts." Her light green eyes skim over Harry and Hermione, who are huddled close together whispering furiously about their futures. "Harriett, you need to eat before we leave."

At those words, a larger brown elf pops into the room silently and sets a plate down on the table, ruffling Harry's hair before popping away. "Karo!" Harry laughs, trying to flatten out her unruly hair a little. "Stop doing that!"

Light laughter enters from in the hall. A few seconds later, a couple enters the room holding hands and smiling. Both look about seventy. although they are actually hundreds of years old. The man, Nicolas Flamel, and his wife, Perenelle, had stayed the night at the Manor so that they could accompany the family the the Hogwarts Express. "Harriett," Perenelle says with a smile, "you ought to have gone to bed earlier last night. You were dead to the world this morning."

Harry sighs apologetically, picking at his lunch. "I'm sorry grandmother. I just wanted to make sure I could finish reading my book before going to school." Harry pushes her plate away and looks at her mother hopefully. "Can I take it to go? I'll eat it on the train, I promise. It's 10:30, the trains going to leave in half an hour."

Mary nods at him and Karo pops back in immediately, taking the plate with a smile as Mary speaks. "I still don't understand why those goblins have you reading a book about martial arts when they made sure you've been training since you could walk." She shakes her head.

John smiles at his wife before turning to his kids. "Has everybody brushed their teeth?" Three yes's answer his question and he continues. "Are you two packed?" The two students respond positively, smiling at their father and at each other. "Then I think we are good to go."

"Minny!" Harry calls, jumping out of her seat and moving to the door, next to her surrogate grandparents. Hermione and Micah follow her quickly.

The pale house elf appears as John and Mary stand up. Hermione quickly addresses her. "Do you think you can have your children bring our bags to the train? We're ready to go."

Minny nods at her before popping out of the room. Harry smiles at her sister while their parents laugh at their children taking control of the situation. Nicolas begins walking, looking backwards at the two students. "Personally, I prefer to travel using my own magic opposed to that of someone else. I will meet you there."

With a smile, Perenelle follows her husband. "I too wish to use my own power. We will find you on the platform."

Karo appears next to the children, and Minny appears next to their parents. Minny places a hand on both adults and pops away to the platform. Karo holds a hand out to both Harry and Hermione, who both place one of their hands in his and the other in the hand of Micah. Quickly, the three children close their eyes and let the familiar feeling of elvish apparition overtake them.

When they open their eyes again, a red train stands before them. Minny releases their hands and smiles at them before moving next to Karo. Harriett and her siblings look around, Micah letting out a loud 'wow'. About twenty feet away, Perenelle and Nicolas are approaching their little group, all the while whispering heatedly to each other. Harriett frowns. She can't ever remember a time when they argued.

The elderly couple reaches them and promptly cast a silencing spell around the group. "Okay Harriett, do you remember everything the goblins and ourselves have told you?" Perenelle questions, making the young witches feel like they are under interrogation.

Molding her face into a serious one, Harry nods. "Don't trust anyone until they prove themselves, don't tell anybody where I live, my real family background, or the houses I'm heir to without them being sworn to secrecy, make the headmaster believe I trust him, keep the fact that I speak parseltounge a secret, and don't let them know the goblins taught me to fight and gifted me with a sword and dagger." He recited, hand moving to hover over the dagger inside one of the pockets in his robes. "Because they will find out everything eventually anyways."

Perenelle nods and turns to Hermione. "And what about you?"

Like reciting a passage from _Matilda_, Hermione speaks. "Don't let anyone patronize me because I am muggle-born. Don't tell any of Harry's secrets or that the goblins started training me to fight. Don't speak what little I know of parseltounge around anyone but Harry and keep my dagger with me. But learn to be independent and don't always trust authority figures."

Perenelle nods again and looks between the two of them. "And you know what to say if somebody asks why you didn't have a representative come talk to you about magic?"

Hermione and Harry glance at each other before nodding. Hermione speaks up. "We grew up living near a wizard who taught us about magic since we first showed accidental magic."

"Since we already knew, there was no reason for them to send anybody." Harriett continues where she left off.

Hermione smiles at Harry before speaking again. "But the wizard cut himself off from the wizarding world."

Harry smiles back at his twin before continuing once more. "And that's why we aren't going to tell them the wizards name."

"That's also the reason if Snape or Dumbledore use legilimency on us"

"And find out about our occlumency ability."

"Which is only mediocre." Both girls state together.

Light laughter comes from their parents. "Really you two." Their father chuckles. "Do you ever answer a question on your own?"

Nicolas looks around with an entertained grin before sighing. "People are starting to look at us. A large amount of attention now would not be good."

Micah frowns and looks around. "Why are they watching us? And is it bad?"

Nicolas looks down at the youngest of the group. "They are watching us because we are quite a peculiar group. House-elves do not usually dress as well as these two are, plus there are house-elves standing with us. Most wizards would not allow them such a privilege. Not to mention nobody can hear what we are saying. And it is not very good because Harriett is supposed to be seen as a muggle-born with no wizarding family."

Micah frowns but nods before turning to glare at the closest family watching them, a large group of red-heads that have just entered the platform. A pair of twins, not much older than Harry and Hermione, smile and wave before their mother pulls their attention from Harry's family.

Harry looks around again, noticing the groups of people gathering. "We should get on the train. Where's Hedwig and Magnus?"

"They are flying there. Being cooped up in a cage is no good for an owl. They need their exercise." Minny tells them, before dipping her ears slightly. "I will miss you while you are away." She hands them both a small package, which Harry accepts gratefully, knowing her lunch was in there. "Be careful. If it is an emergency, call me or Karo. But only an emergency."

Harry and Hermione nod, remembering their most recent talk with the goblins who are training them. House-elves can enter Hogwarts, but once they do the headmaster knows about it. If the headmaster wants to, they can see a image of the house-elf and where it went in the castle. The exception to this rule is the Hogwarts house-elves. Since they are employed -and therefore owned- by the castle, they can go in and out at will without alerting anybody.

Nicolas cancels the spell around them as the girls hug their parents goodbye. They quickly turn to the elderly couple, hugging them before turning to the two house-elves and giving them a hug of their own. Both girls laugh at the shocked looks sent their way from wizarding families around them.

Harry smirks at her sister before looking towards the train. "Well, I think that's everybody. Shall we head towards the train."

Hermione smiles at her twin and nods. "Of course. Although I feel like we forgot something."

In front of them, four tiny figures appear, barely reaching Harriett's knees. "Hugs." One of them demands, nearly forcing a laugh out of both girls.

"Of course!" Hermione exclaims, leaning down with her twin to comply to the small elf's demand. "How could we have forgot about Kira, Raven, Mali, and Palan?"

Harriett shakes her head as they finish hugging the young house-elves. "We always seem to forget something."

The two witches move to stand up when a weight jumps onto their back, wrapping its arms around their necks. "Hey!" Micah complains. "You forgot about me, too!"

Hermione gasps loudly, unable to keep a small smile off of her face. "You're right! I can't believe we forgot two things!"

Harry frowns over her shoulder at her little brother. "Our brains must not be working today."

Micah giggles, loosening his grip. "It's because you didn't eat Har'." He tilts his head to Hermione. "And you are dumb too because you are twins."

Harry and Hermione laugh and grab their brother at the same time, pulling him into a tight hug. "We'll miss you too, Micah." Hermione states, closing her eyes.

Harry places her hand on the back of Micah's head, playing with his hair for a moment before pulling back from the hug."We're going now. Don't let the house fall apart without us there."

Micah giggles again, before whispering seriously to his older siblings. "Don't get in trouble. Mom and Dad don't like when you get in trouble."

Harry and Hermione nod back at their brother just as seriously and he had spoke to them. Pulling back, the girls say goodbye to their family before turning and walking a way. After a few steps, Harry turns to Hermione. "Race you to the train." Hermione laughs and they run neck and neck with Harry just beating her competition. Once aboard, Harry grabs an empty compartment about halfway down the train for them and sits next to the window, letting her snake slither onto her chest under her robe.

Hermione sits across from her and looks out the window. "We aren't going to see them for four months. Mom, dad, grandfather Nicolas, grandmother Perenelle, Micah."

Harry's smile slips lightly. Not seeing Nicolas and Perenelle for months isn't that foreign to them, but not seeing their more immediate family for such a long time was something they've never done. "We'll have each other, 'Mione. I'm sure we will manage. Plus we can owl them whenever we want."

Hermione smiles lightly at her, reaching across and grabbing her hand. "At least I have my twin with me."

Harry sighs. "I just can't wait until we can make it official."

Hermione squeezes Harry's hand. "The second we are both thirteen and the goblins are sure our magic can handle it we are going to do the twin bond."

Harry places her free hand over Hermione's and smiles when the door slides open. A blond raises his eyebrow at their position. "Am I interrupting?" Harry and Hermione pull away from each other, and the blond speaks again. "I seem to be missing a person. He's huge and an idiot." He looks at them both with expectation.

"Well I can see an idiot." Harry mutters. At the same time, Hermione scoffs. "We need more than that to identify someone. But no, we haven't seen anyone."

The blond rolls his eyes. "I don't know why I bothered to ask you. Two mud-bloods such as yourselves obviously wouldn't know anything."

Harry and Hermione bristle at the insult. Hermione's eyes water immediately and she looks away as Harry stands up and locks eyes with the boy. "I'm not going to sit here and listen while you insult me and my sister." Harry moves towards the door and places her hand on the door. "Are you sure you lost him? Perhaps he got tired of you and went on to some better company."

The blond scowls at her before smoothing his face out. "What is your name?"

"Harriett James Granger." Harry scowls at the boy, before smoothing her face out and placing her other hand on the wall, blocking view into the compartment. "I would say it's been a pleasure meeting you, but me and Hermione here were taught that it's bad to lie." With those words, she closes the door and shuts the curtain over it. She turns back to her sister. "Blond hair, sharp features, a hatred towards muggle-borns. I think we just met Draco Malfoy."

Hermione simply gives Harry a shaky nod. Harry walks to her sister and grabs her face, pulling her eyes away from the window as the train begins moving. "Hey, you can't let it get to you. You know what you have to do?" Hermione doesn't move, so Harry continues. "You've got to show them all that it doesn't affect you. You have to show them that a muggle-born, like you and my birth mom, can be just as good as even the best pure-blood or half-blood." Hermione starts to smile, so Harry smirks at her. "Actually, show them you can be better than any of them. Because I know you, and you already are better than Malfoy, and from all of our studies we know that they are...?"

"One of the highest standing families." Hermione says, wiping her eyes. "In wizarding Britain, at least."

Harry nods, abandoning her previous spot to sit next to her sister. "You know what would cheer you up? Practicing parseltounge."

Without waiting for a response, she places her hand next to her snake under her robes. '_Is the human gone, little one?'_

Harry gives a small smile. '_Yes, Celeste, Draco is gone. You can come out now.'_

Celeste slithers out of the robes and curls into the crook of her neck. Smiling at Hermione, Harry hisses. '_How excited for Hogwarts are you?'_

After a pause, Hermione responds. '_Really excited. I not know how much the different houses get along, and wish I did.'_

'_I don't know.' _Harry corrects. "You said 'I not know' and 'I don't know' is pronounced _'I don't know.'_

_'I don't know.' _Hermione practices, smiling when Harry nods at her._ 'Thank you.'_

The young snake raises its head at him and hisses, interrupting them. _'Can I explore the castle when we get there? You'll have classes and I don't like being bored.'_

Harry chuckles. _'Just don't scare anybody. I don't think they would like a snake roaming around.'_

'_Try not to be seen, Celeste. People might be curious if they keep seeing snake around the school.'_ Hermione states, frowning in concern. '_And that would not be good for Harry.'_

_'I can't be the only person there with a snake. There's an entire house with a snake for a mascot, someone else has to have brought a snake as a pet.'_ Harry reasons.

Hermione's face goes blank in thought. '_Snakes are very hard creatures to control unless you can speak their language. I already told you that they are against the rules to brought with you, unless they are already your familiar. Familiars can't be very far from each other.'_

_'To bring with you, Hermione. Not to brought with you.'_ Harry corrects,_ w_aiting until she has practiced saying it a few times before continuing. _ 'People break rules all the time. Why wouldn't people for a pet?'_

_'We are not pets.'_ Celeste hiss's angrily. _'Snakes are either captured and leave or we choose to accompany the human that caught us. The choice is ours, not theirs.'_

Their conversation is interrupted by a few quick knocks on their door. "Anything from the trolly?" A feminine voice calls.

Harry opens the door after Celeste slips back under the cloth and buys a few chocolate frogs and packages of Bernie Bots Every` Flavored Beans. Instead of shutting the door again and resuming their conversation, she simply returns to her seat and opens a book of her own, satisfied that her sister is once again calm.

After a while, Celeste hisses at a new arrival in their compartment. Harry and Hermione both lift their heads to see a toad on the windowsill between them. Harry grabs a small bowl from her bag that was supposed to be used for if Celeste got thirsty and fills it with water, setting it near the toad before turning back to her book for the remainder of the trip.


	2. Less Gyffindor

**I'm so sorry guys. My computer broke, and I have been unable to afford to get a new one. I'm on my boyfriends laptop right now, and thankfully I have all of my stories on my flash drive so I was able to keep what I had written. I haven't written any more, since I couldn't get it off of my flash drive, but now I'm going to be able to. But here you go, new chapter.**

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**More Knowledge, Less Honesty**

_Long legs step over debris of what used to be a house. The elderly wizard moves up the stairs quickly, over a mans body, and into what remains of the nursery. A young woman's body lies played on the ground, green eyes faded over. Doing a few diagnostic spells, the wizard follows the path of the killing curse. From the pile of robes to the empty crib and back. By the time Rubeus Hagrid appears at the scene, Albus Dumbledore has made a theory._

_Harriett Potter killed Voldemort the same moment Voldemort killed her. She will be remembered as a hero._

~Just~A~Normal~Break~Line~

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A voice booms towards the two first-years. Hermione and Harry glance at each other before moving towards the voice. A huge man, over twice Harry's size, stands near a group of boats overlooking a large lake.

Approaching the lake, the two witches notice the boats only hold four people each. Harry bumps into a slightly chubby boy with blonde hair, nearly dropping the toad she had been carrying as he falls to the ground.

"Sorry!" Harry exclaims, checks flushing. Hermione helps the boy up while Harry continues. "I'm pretty clumsy sometimes, but usually I don't take down other people with me." The toad in her hand croaks, and the boys mouth drops open.

"Trevor!" He yells, making both Harry and Hermione jump. Noticing he startled the girls, he smiles apologetically. "Sorry. That's my toad, you see, and he disappeared on the train. He was a gift from my gran."

Harry smiles at him and hands him Trevor before tilting her head towards the nearest empty boat. They all head there while Hermione bounces forwards and walks backwards in front of them. "My name is Hermione Granger, and this is my sister, Harriett." She introduces, waving her hand towards the ebony as they reach the edge of the lake. "Although you should probably call her Harry. She punched the last person who called her by her full name."

"In my defense," Harry states quickly, climbing into the boat, "I had known him for years and he called me that simply to get on my nerves."

The boy looks at her nervously before giving them another small smile. "My name is Neville Longbottom."

Before he can continue talking, another boy approaches their boat. "Can I join you guys?" He asks, raking his eyes over them as they nod. Harry, Neville, and Hermione introduce themselves once again as the red head climbs into the boat. "I'm Ron. Ronald Weasley."

They sit in silence for a few moments before Ron breaks the silence. "So what houses are you going to be in? I bet I'll be in Gryffindor like my brother Charlie. Of course, I also had two brothers go into Ravenclaw and another two into Slytherin. But my dad was a Gryffindor, too."

Smiling widely, Hermione speaks as the boats starts moving with a jerk. "We'll I just know that I'll be in Ravenclaw. I've read a book all about the different houses, and really the way the houses are handled have so much error in them."

"I don't know where I'll go." Harry interrupts her friend with a fond smile. "Our parents said that I'd fit in Slytherin, but we read about a spell put onto the hat about fifty years ago that stops muggle-borns from being places there. So, I don't know. Maybe I'll join 'Mione in Ravenclaw."

After ducking when Hagrid warns them to, Neville takes his turn talking. "Well, my gran wants me to go to Gryffindor. Both my parents were in that house. I just... I don't know if that's where I belong."

Hermione and Harry give him small smiles, and the boat grows silent once again as Hogwarts comes into view. All four first-years sit in awe at the castle in front of them. Although Harry and Hermione had seen pictures before, from Harry's parents time at Hogwarts, the pictures failed to capture the sheer size of the place. It seemed to glow from the inside out, with windows filled with candle light that somehow manages to fill everywhere. There is a forest a bit to the side that Harry immediately wants to explore. The lands seem to roll, with the hills that expand until they go out of sight.

Their silent gazing stops abruptly when a large tentacle appears out of the water in front of them. Other students scream, along with Ron. Looking around, Harry and Hermione notice three other tentacles around the boats. The tentacle closest to them moves around a little, tapping the side of the boat once. Hermione gasps as it gets closer to her, closing her eyes when it taps her shoulder like it did the boat.

It moves towards Harry, but before it can tap her shoulder she taps it twice with her knuckles. It freezes immediately, and Harry tenses up with her hand moving next to her dagger. She knows she shouldn't have touches a magical beast without it's permission (she learned that lesson with a Pegasus she met in the woods near her house) but she was so curious about why it would tap. Perhaps it was just wanting someone to play with it.

For a second she curses her curiosity, as she watches the tentacle moves closer to her. She's ready to grab her dagger when it taps her hand three times. Harry almost laughs in relief, before moving her hand up and tapping it four times in response. The tentacle comes slightly further out of the water and pushes Harry's hair around, messing up the long locks even more than they already were, before going back underwater along with the other three.

Harry can't help but giggle at the tentacle's actions. She looks around at other boats as she tries to fix her hair to see Draco Malfoy watching her like she is completely insane. Which, granted, touching a magical beast was probably an insane thing to do, but he has no right to judge her. She raises an eyebrow at him and looks at her own boat partners. Hermione rolls her eyes and Neville is staring at her, while Ron's jaw has to be almost disconnected from him head.

Slowly, he closes his mouth, slowly being the first to speak. "Bloody hell, Harry. Making friends with a giant squid? I didn't think that was possible."

Harry smirks and leans back against the boat edge, trailing her fingers in the water. "I was born to achieve the impossible, Ron." Ron doesn't seem to know whether to smile or laugh, so while he sorts it out she notices how close to land they are.

Smiling at Neville, Hermione continues their earlier conversation. "Why don't you belong in the house of the brave, Neville?"

Said blond smiles back at Hermione, although he is obviously nervous. "Well I just get nervous. Like I said, both my parents were there, and she's always wanted me to be just like them. She even gave me my dads wand to use instead of getting me a brand new one."

Hermione frowns as they hit the shore. "Are you sure that's safe? When I got my wand Mr. Ollivander told me that the wand chooses the wizard. If the wand didn't choose you, it might not work for you."

Neville opens his mouth before shutting it again as he gets out of the boat. "It might not, but I'm still gonna try it. At least to make my gran happy."

Harry smiles at him, the group joining with the other first-years making their way to the castle. "That sounds very loyal Neville. I wouldn't be surprised if you join Hufflepuff."

Hermione smiles and nods, while Ron scoffs. "Nobody actually wants to be a Hufflepuff. Everyone knows they are the most useless house."

Neville frowns again and looks down, tightening his grip on Trevor. Harry turns to glare at him, walking backwards. "What is useless about being loyal, dedicated, fair, and honest? At least the house is full of good people." Satisfied that she scared Ron enough with her glare (Hermione told her once that her eyes become darker when she's angry) she turns to Neville. "Ignore everyone. If they act like Ronald here, give me their names. Nobody treats my friends like less than what they are."

Once again, Harry knows she probably shouldn't have done that. Taking somebody under her protection while a first year means more work, and she already doesn't know how much work there will be in general. Really, she need to start thinking things through. With a glance at Hermione, she knows her best friend is thinking the same thing.

Silence follows her words within the small group as they go up the schools stairs into the castle. The building is clearly old, made out of stone. A shimmering white form comes through the wall in front of them, smiling and waving before leaving through the wall on the other side of them. The few portraits watch them with interest, often whispering to someone who is sharing their frame at the time.

Within minutes the group of first-years -there's about forty of them- are standing in front of huge doors, with a stern woman standing in front of them. From the stories and pictures from his parents years, Harry and Hermione both recognize her as Professor McGonagall. She gives them a speech, telling them they were going to be sorted and should look their best by the time she came back out to them.

As soon as she went back into the Great Hall, Ron speaks up from beside Harry while Hermione starts a quiet conversation with Neville, who seems to be partially scared of Harriett. "You know my mom suspects that either my sister or I will get into Hufflepuff." He shifts from foot to foot for a moment. "Y'know, not because we act like them, just because we have somebody in every other house."

"What exactly does a Hufflepuff act like, Ronald?" Harry asks, allowing annoyance to seep into her voice. After a minute or two, she takes pity on the uncomfortable red-head and asks a neutral question. "How many siblings do you have?"

Only too happy to talk again, Ron speaks quickly. "Well Bill is the oldest. He was a Ravenclaw and works as a curse-breaker now. Then there's Charlie, he works with dragons in Romania. Percy is a fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect. Then there is Fred and George. They're third year twins in Slytherin, although they use their cunning to prank people. And then I have a younger sister, Ginny. She'll be coming here next year. I recon she'll be in Gryffindor or Slytherin."

"We have a younger brother too." Hermione slips in.

Seemingly bored with his current conversation, Draco Malfoy turns towards Harry and her small group of people. "Really, Granger, I would've figured even mud-bloods know not to attract the attention giant squids." The entire group of people grew silent, curious to know what the strange female has to say.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she instead locks them with the blonds gray ones. "And I would've figured that even pure-bloods know the simplest points of human decency."

Of course, it was just her luck that she started talking as soon as the door was opened. McGonagall looks down at her with a raised eyebrow, laughter drifting in the Great Hall as a result of her statement. Harry fights down her blush as the Deputy Headmistress orders them into two lines. It barely took a minute for the forty smiling students to line up and walk into the Great Hall.

The students eyes roam over them, and Harry has the distinct feeling that they are looking for weakness. She rolls her eyes at it and Hermione grabs her hand, squeezing it once before letting it go in a quick show of support. The hat starts singing, a song about the houses and what each house values.

Then the sorting begins, with the hat being sat in each students head. Harriett manages to recognize the pure-bloods and half-bloods names thanks to the goblins insistence that she learn the families. After a bit, Harriett was called. Taking a deep breath, Harry walks forwards, keeping her face perfectly under control so she won't show any emotion. It was what the goblins had taught her to do when she's not in control of her emotions.

Heart beating wildly, Harry sits down on the stool and closes her eyes after the hat blocks the world from her view.

'Ah, an interesting mind.' For her credit, Harry did not jump when the hat talks directly into her mind. 'You have a lot of nerve, Miss Potter, but that is not what you value in yourself or others. You have knowledge and wit, but do not crave more knowledge than you need. You give credit to those who work hard and are loyal to the few you are attached to. You would do well in Hufflepuff, but also Slytherin. Yes, you are very resourceful, and cunning. You definitely have plans for the future, yes. And a snake familiar as well. So where do I put you, young Potter. Hufflepuff or Slytherin?'

Harry has a moment of panic. 'You can't put me in Slytherin. Everyone thinks I'm muggle-born, and muggle-borns can't be put in Slytherin. You'll blow my cover!'

Although she can't see, she has the feeling the hat is smirking. 'And that is precisely why you belong with the snakes. Tell them that perhaps the spell woven over me is beginning to fail.' "Slytherin!" The hat bellows to the room.

The room is silent as the hat is taken off of her. A few first-year muggle-borns starts to clap before realizing something is off. Harriett can feel her face go pale as she slides off of the stool and walks to the pure-blood house that is staring her down. Of course, they know the pure-blood and half-blood names like she did, so they know that she has a muggle-born name.

Harry smiles lightly at her sister, who slides her hand down Harry's arm in an attempt at support. Hermione's name is called my McGonagall before Harry reaches the Slytherin table, but Hermione is the only one who's attention shifts. After what feels like eternity, Harry reaches the Slytherin table and carefully avoids the eyes of everyone in the house. Turning, she places her focus on Hermione just in time to here the hat bellow "Ravenclaw!" and to have her sit across from Harry, who is immediately glad to have the two tables right next to each other.

Neville was the next name she payed attention to. The hat sat on his head for a full minute, making multiple different faces while Neville attempts to both hold Trevor and fidget with his Longbottom heir ring. Eventually, he went to Gryffindor with a small smile on his face. After him went Malfoy, who was sorted into Slytherin before the hat touched his head.

More and more people get sorted, and Harry only pays attention to try to keep attention off of herself. She's been taught how to fit into the group of pure-bloods since birth, but she can't do that without proving even more that she isn't who she says she is. She looks towards her new head-of-house, her mothers childhood friend, and doesn't bother to hide her scowl at the legilimency probe he sends into her head. He raises his eyebrow at her as she enforces her occlumency shield.

Harry turns back to the sorting, noticing that Ron Weasley currently sits under the hat. He frowns quickly before nodding at something the hat says. "Hufflepuff!" Ron seeks out her eyes as the hat is removed and gives her a small smile before moving to the opposite side of the room to his new house. Harry hears two Slytherin's clapping and turns, noticing the two red heads that Micah had glared at on the platform to the train. That must be Fred and George, Ron's siblings.

The two third-years calm down and look towards Harry, probably following Ron's gaze from earlier. They wink at her and she gives them a smile in return. A few minutes later the final person sat down, and Dumbledore stands up and addresses the student population. "Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts." He smiles and waits for the cheering response to die down before continuing. "As always, I need to remind you of a few of the rules. First of all, the Forbidden forest is called so for a reason, and no student is allowed to enter. Secondly, no students are allowed to use magic in the corridors between classes. And thirdly, the northern wing of the third corridor is off limits to all those who do not wish to die a most painful death."

Whispers break out among the tables, although among the Slytherin's it contains mostly pointed looks at one another. With a wave of his hand, Dumbledore summons food for the students. "And may the feast begin!"


End file.
